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New Orleans, La., March 9, 1868. 

To His Excellency, 12. M. Pease, Governor of Texas: 

Sir — Your communication of the 17th January last, was received in cine course of mail, (the 27th -T muary, ) but not until it 
had been widely circulated by the newspaper press. Tosuch a Letter — written and published tor manifest purposes— it La 
my intention to reply as soon as leisure from more' important business would permit. 

Your statement that the Act of C ingress " to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel states.'' d< el ire - 
whatever government existed in Texas, was provisional ; that peace ami order should be enforced; that Texas should be part ol 
tie- Fifth Military District, and subject to military power; that the President should appoint an officer to command in said Dis- 
trier, and detail a tore,' t., prot ict the rights of person and property, s ippress iusuftection and violenc i, and punish offenders, 
either by .Military Commission, or through th - action of local civil tribunals, as in his own judgment, might Beem best, will 
uot be disputed. One need onlj read the Act to perceive it contains such provisions Bui btofl all this is su|jposed to have 
made it my duty to order the Military Commission requested, you have entirely failed to sh iw. The power to do a thing if 

shown, and tie- propriety of doing it, are ofl ferent matters. You observe you are at a loss to understand how a gov- 

nt without representation in Congress, or a militi i force, andsubject to military power, can In' said to he in the full exer- 
cise of all its proper powers. You do not reflect that this government, created or permitted bj I longre'ss, has all the p 
which the aet intends, and may full} exercise them accordingly. If you think it ought to have more powers,; should be al- 
lowi I to send members to Congress, weld a militia force, ami possess yet other powers, your complaint is not to be preferred 
against me, but ag dust Congress, who made il what it is. 

As respects the issue between us, any question as to what Congress ought to have done, has no pertinence. V. n admil 
lot of Congress authorizes me to try an offender by Military Commission, or allow the local civil tribunals to try. as [ shall 
deem best; and you cannot d ny the act expressly recognizes such local civil tribunals as legal authorities for the purpose 
.1. When 3 iu contend there are no le el local tribunals tor any purpose in Texas, you must either deny the plain 
i the Act of Congress, or the power of Congress to pass the Act. 

irk that you dissent from my declaration, "that tic country (Texas) is in a state of profound peace," and 

proceed to sea . ti, e grounds of yo They appear to me not a little extraordinary. [quote your words : "It is true 

Tex 'is i any organized resistance to the authority of the United States." "But a large majority of 

ate population, who participated m the lit- rebellion, are embittered against the I nl, and yield to it an 

unwilling ol I Nevertheless, yot a I fcbej do yijlditob dience. Yo.-. proceed : "None of this class ha. 

affection for the Government, ami veryfew any respect tor it. They regard the legislation of Congress on the subji 

tructiou, as unconstitutional, and hostile to their interests, and consider the Government now existing here under 
authority of the United St ites, as an usurpation on their rights They look on the emaucip iton of their late slaves and th.' 
ichisemeut of a portion of their own class as an act ot insult and oppression." 
And this is all you have i i present for proot that war and not peace prevails in Trias, and henci it becomes my duty (so 
yon suppose) to set aside the local civil tribunals, and enforce the penal c ide against citizens, by means of Milit try Commis- 
sions. 

My Dear Sir, I am not a lawyer, nor lias it been my business, as it may have been yours, to study the philosophy ol 
■ i dies, lint I may lay claim, after an i of more than half a life ton-, to some poor knowledge ot men, and 

np] intiou ol whal is necessary to Bocial order and happiness, And for the future of our common country, I could de 

wish that no great number of our people have yet fallen in with the views yon oppe ir I i entertain. Woe be to us when 

shall come to pass that the power ot the magistrate— civil or military— is permitted to deal witli the mere opinions or feelings 

of the people. 

I have been accustomed to believe that sentiments of respect or disrespect, and feelings of affection, love ir hatred, so loni 

as not developed into acts iu violation of law, were tiers wholly beyond the punitory powi t ot human tribunals. 

I will maintain that tic entire Freedom ot thought aid speech however accriinoniouslj indulged, is consistent with the no 

spirations of man, and the happiest C indition ot his race, 
When a hoy, I remember to have read it peech oi Lord Chatham, delivered in Parliament. It was during our Eevolution- 
I related to the policy of employing the savages on the side ol Brit tin. You maj l" more familiar with the 
than I am. If I am md greatly mistaki n, his Lordship denounced the Britis i Government bis government — in terms of un- 
tie characterized il policy us revolting to every sentiment oi humauitj and religion; pro laiineditcov- 
e, and vented his , terual abhorence "f it and its mi asuri s. It may. 1 think, be safely asserted th 
h nation concurred in tje views ol Lord Ch it limn. Butwh lever supp ised that protbund peace w is not existing 
iu th ■ i, or that Government had anj tuthoril m th9 absolute right ol 

tions to the propriety of the King's measures in any words, or to any ext mi they pleased? It would be difficult to show that 
ppouents ol Government in ol th elder Adams or Jefferson or Jackson, exhibited for it either "affection" or 

Yni are conversant with the history of our past parties and p ilitioul struggles touc 

I Banks, our wars with England and Mexico, and cannot be ignorant of the fact, I 
i il law or system oflegislation is unconstitutional, oppressive, and asurpative, is not a uewtb 

i if Congres il utional, oppj insulting I i 

a hand, I at of the United Stab I his opinion, that I .sure 






unconstitutional. The Supreme Court, as you are aware, not Ions agodecided unanimously that a certain Military Commission 
was unconstitutional. Our people every where, iu every State, without reference to the side they took during the rebellion, dif- 
fer as to the constitutionality of these acts of Congress. How the matter really is, neither yi mi nor I may dogmatically affirm. 

If you deem them Constitutional laws, anil beneficial to the country, you not only have the right to publish your opinions, 
but it might be your bounden duty as a citizen to do so. Not less is it the privilege and duty of any and every citizen, wherever 
residing, to publish his opinion freely and fearlessly on this and every question which he thinks concerns his interest. This is 
merely iu accordance with the principles of our free Government ; and neither you nor I would wish to live under any other. 
It is time now, at the end of almost two years from the close of the war, we should begin to recollect what manner of people 
we are ; to tolerate again free, popular discussion, and extend some forbearance and c n sideration to opposing views. The 
maxims that in all intellectual contests, truth is mighty, and must prevail ; and that error is harmless when reason is left 
free io combat it are not only sound, but salutary, it is a p ior compliment to the m. rits of such a cause, that its advocates 
would silence opposition by force ; and generally those only who are m the wrong will resort to this ungenerous means. I am 
confident you will not commit your serious judgment to the proposition that any amount of discussion, or any sort of opinions 
however unwise in your judgment : or any assertion or feeling, however resentful or bitter, not resulting in the breach of law. 
can furnish justification for your denial that profound peace exists in Texas. Son might as well deny that profound peace 
exists in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Calilornia. Ohio and Kentucky, where a majority of the people differ with a 
minority on these questions : or that profound peace exists in the House of Representatives, or the Senate, at Washington, or 
in the Supreme Court, where all these questions have been repeatedly discussed, and parties respectfully and patiently heard. 
You next complain that in parts of the State. ( Texas, ) it is difficult to enforce the criminal laws ; that Sheriffs fail to arrest : 

that Grand Jurors will not always indict : that in some cases the military acting iu aid of the civil authorities have- not 1 ti 

able to execute the ] rocess of the courts ; that Petit Jurors have acquitted persons adjudged guilty by yon ; and that other 
persons charged with offences Lave broke jail and tied from prosecution. 1 know not how these things are ; but admitting 
your representations literally true, if for such reasons I should set aside the local civil tribunals and order a Military Commis- 
sion, there is no place in the lulled Mates where it might not be done with equal propriety. There is not a State ill the 
Union— North or South — where the like facts are not continually happening. Perfection is not to be predicated of man or Ins 
works. No one can re isoaably •:;;>'•; certain an 1 absolute justice iu hum in tr.uisa itioas ; a i 1 if .Military pswer is to be sel 
iu motion, ou the principles tor which you would seem to contend, I fear that a Civil Gov ruin snt, regul ited by law-, could 
have no abiding place beneath the eiieuit of the sail. It is rather more than hinted in your letter, that there is no local State 
Government in 1 exas, and no loi al laws outside of the Aets of Congress, which I ought to respect : and that I should under- 
take to protect the rights of persons and property in my 0W'i icay, and in an arbitrary mnnntr. If such be your meaning, I 
am compelled to differ with you. After the abolition oi slavery, (an event which 1 hope no one now regrets,) the laws of 
Louisiana and Texas, existing prior to the rebellion, mid not in conflict with the Acts ot Congress, comprised a vast system of 
jurisprudence, both civil and criminal. It required not volumes only, but libraries to contain them. They laid down princi- 
ples and precedents tor asceitaining the rights and adjusting the controv* i sc s of men in evciy conceivable ease. They were 
the creations of gnat and good and learned men. who had labored, in their day, for their kind, and gone down to the 
lone belore our n cent troubles, leaving their wor s an inestimable legacy to the human race. These laws, as I am informed, 
connected the civilizations of past and present ages, and testified of the justice, wisdom, humanity and patriotism of more 
than one nation, through whose records they descended to the present people of these States. I am satisfied from representa- 
tions of persons competent to judge, they are as perlect a system oi laws as may be found elsewhere; ami better suited 
than any other to the condition ot this people., tor by them they hive long been governed. Why should it be supposed Con- 
gress has abolished these laws? Why should any one wish to abolish them? They have committed no treason; nor are 
hostile to the United States; nor countenance crime; nor favor injustice. On them, as on a foundation ot rock, reposes almost 
the entire superstiuction of social order m these two Slates. Annul this code of local laws, and there would be no longer any 
rights, either ot persons or property I ire. Abolish the 1 cal civil tribunals made to execute them, and you would virtually 
annul the laws. . xcept in reference to the very lew eases cognizable in tie Federal Courts. Let us, turn moment, suppose the 
whole local civil code annulled; and that lam left, as Commander of the Fifth MLitary District, the sole founta.n of law 
and justice. This is the position in which you would place me. 

I am now to pri.tect all rights, and redress all wrongs. How is it possible for me to do it? Innumerable questions arise, 
of which I am not only ignorant, but to the solution of which a Military Court is entirely unfitted. One would es.ablish a 
will, another a deed; or the question is one of succession, or partnership, or descent or trust ; a suit of ejectment or claim to 
chattels; or the application may relate t i robbery, theit, arson or murder. How am I to take the first step in any such matter? 
11 I turn to the Acts of Congress, I find nothing on the subject. I dare Lot open the authors en the local code, for it has 
ceased to exist. 

And you tell me that iu this perplexing condition, I am to furnish by dint of my own hasty and crude judgment, the 
legislation demanded by the vast and manifold interests of the people! I repeat, sir. that you, and not Congress, are respon- 
sible for the monstrous suggestion that, there are no local laws or institutions here to be respected by me, outside the Acts of 
Congress. I say unhesitatingly, if it wane possible that Congress should pass an act abolishing the local codes for Louisiana 
and Texas — which 1 do not believe — and it. should fall to my lot to supply their places with something ot my own, I do not see 
how I could do better than follow the laws in force lure prior to the rebellion, excepting whatever tie rein shall relate to 
slavery. Power may destroy the forms, but not the principles of justice ; these will live in spite even of the sword. History 
tels us that the Roman pandects were lost lor along period among the rubbish that war and revolution had heaped upon ■ a 
them, but at length were dug out of the ruins — again to be regarded as a pjnaoas treasure. ^r-^<^£c^ 

\ on are phase, 1 to state that "since the publication of (my) General Orders No. 411, there has been a perceptible increase 
of crime, and manifestation of hostile feeling towards the Government and its supporters," and add that it is "an unpleasant 
duty to give such a recital cf the condition ef the country.'' 

You will permit me to say that I deem it impossible the first of these statements can be true, and that I do very greatly 
doubt the correctness oi the second. General Orders No. in, was issued at New Orleans, November 29th , 18G7, and your letter 
was dated January l^th. 1868. Allowing lime Ii r ordi r No. 40 to reach Texas, and become generally known, some additional 
time must have elapsed before its effect would be manifested and a yet further time must transpire before you would be able to 
collect the evidence of what you term " the condition of the country," and yet afterall thisyi u would have to make the neces- 
sary investigations to ascertain if Order No. 40 or something else was the cause. The time therefore remaining to enable you 



before the 17th of January 18(18, to reach a satisfactory conclusion on so delicate and nice a question must have been very short. 
How you proceeded, whether you investigated yourself or through third persons, ami it' so who they were, what their [po- 
tency and fairness, on what evidence you rested your conclusion or whether you ascertained any tacts at all, are points upon 

which your letter so discreetly omits all mention, that I may well be excused lor not relying implicitly upon it; nor is my diffi- 
culty diminished by the tart thai in another part of your letter you state thai ever since the close of the war a very large por- 
tion of the people have had no affection for the Government, but bitterness of feeling only. Had the duty of publishing and 
circulating through the country long before it reached me, your statement that the action of the District Commander was in- 
creasing crime and hostile feeling against the Government, been less painful to your sensibilities, it might possibly have occur- 
red to you to furnish something on the subject in addition to your bare assertion. 

But what was Order No. 40, and how could it have the effect you attribute to it ? It sets forth that "the great principles of 
American liberty are still the inheritence of this people, and ever should be." " That the right ot trial by jury, the babens 
corpus, the liberty of the press, the freedom of speech, and the milmtm l rights of person and property must be preserved. ^<- 
Will you question the truth of these declarations V Which one of these great principles of liberty are you ready to deny and 
repudiate ? Whoever does so avows himself the enemy of human liberty and the advocate of despotism. Was there any inti- 
mation in General Orders No. 40, that any crimes or breaches of law would be countenanced? You know that there was not. 
On the contrary, you know perfectly well that while " the consideration of crime and offences committed in the Fifth Military 
District, was referred to the judgment of the regular civil tribunals," a pledge was given in Order No. 40, which all understood;, 
that tribunals would be supported in their lawiul jurisdiction, and that " forcible resisteuce to law would be instantly sup- 
pressed by arms." You will not affirm that this pledge has ever been forfeited. There has not been a moment since! have 
been in command of the Fifth District, when the whole military force in my hands has not been ready to support the civil 
authorities of Texas in the execution of the laws. And 1 am unwilling to believe they would refuse to call for aid if they need- 
ed it. 

There are some considerations which, it seems to me, should cause you to hesitate before iudulging in wholesale censures 
against the civil authorities of Texas. You are yourself the chief ot those authorities, not elected by the people, but created 
by the military. Not long alter you had thus come into office, all the Judges of the Supreme Court of Texas — five in num- 
ber — were removed from office and new appointments made: twelve of the seventeen District Judges were removed and others 
appointed. County Officers, more or less, in seventy-five out of one hudred and twenty-eight Counties, were removed and 
others appointed in their places. It is fair to conclude that the executive and judicial civil functionaries in 
Texas, are the persons whom you desired to fill the offices. It is proper to mention, also, that none but registered 
citizens, and only those who could take the test oath, have been allowed to serve/ as jurors during your administration. Now, 
it is against this local government, created by military power prior to nij coming here, and so composed of your personal 
and political friends, that you have preferred the most grievous complaints. It is of them that you have asserted they will not 
do their duty; they will not maintain justice; will not arrest offenders; will not punish crimes; and that out of one hundred 
homicides committed in the last twelve months, not over ten arrests have been made ; and by means of such gross disregard 
of duty, you declare tha 1 neither property nor life is safe in Texas. 

Certainly you could have said nothing more to the discredit of the officials who are now in office. If the 
facts be as you allege, a mystery is presented lor which I can imagine no explanation. Why is it that your political friends, 
backed up and sustained by the whole military power of the United States, in this District, should be unwilling to enforce tie- 
laws against that part of the population lately iu rebellion, and whom you represent as the offenders? In all the history of 
these troubles, I have never seen or heard before of such a fact. I repeat, if the tact be so, it is a profound mystery, utterly 
surpassing my comprehension. I am constrained to declare that I believe you are iu very great error as to facts. On careful 
examination at the proper source, I find that at the date of your letter, four cases only, of homicides, had been reported to 
these Headquarters as having occurred since November 29, 18G7, the date of Order 10. and these cases were 
ordered to be tried or investigated as soon as the reports were received. However the fact of the one hundred homicides 
may still be correct, as stated by you. The Freedmeu's Bureau in Texas, reported one hundred and sixty: how many of these 
were by Indians and Mexicans, and how the remainder were classified, is not known: nor is it known whether these da 
accurate. 

The report of the Commanding Officer of the District ot Texas shows that since I assumed command, no applications 
have been made to him. by you, for the arrest of criminals in the State of Texas. 

To this date, eighteen cases of homicides have been reported to me, as having occurred since November 29, 1807, although 
special instructions had been given to report such cases as they occur. Of these, five were committed by Indians: 
one by a Mexican: one by an insane man: three by colored men: two women by their husbands; and of the remainder, some 
by parties unknown — all of which could be scarcely attributable to Order No. 40. If the reports received since the issuing ot 
( Irder No. 10, are correct, they exhibit no increase of homicides in my time, if you are correct that one hundred had occurred 
in the past twelve months. 

That there has not been a perlect administration of justice in Texas, I am not prepared to deny. 

That there has been no such wanton disregard of duty on the part of officials, as you allege. 1 am well satisfied. V . er\ 
little while ago you regarded the present officials in Texas the only ones who could be safely trusted with power. Now you 
pronounce them worthless, and would cast them aside. 

I have found little else in your letter but indications of temper, lashed into excitement by cans s which I deem niosth 
imaginary, a great confidence in the accuracy of your own opinions, and an intolerance of the opinions of others: a desire to 
punish the thoughts and feelings of those who differ with you. and an impatience which magnifies the short comings of officials 
who are perhaps as earnest and conscientious in the discharge of their duties as yourself, and a most unsound conclusion that 
while any persons are to be found wanting in affection or respect for Government, or yielding it obedience from motives tch< 
do not approve, war and not peace is the status, mid all such persons are the proper subjects for military penal jurisdiction. 

If I have written anything to disabuse your mind of so grave an error, I shall be gratified. 

I am. Sir, 

Very Respectfully, 

OFFICIAL: Yonr Obedient Servant, 

W. S. HANCOCK, 

Major General, Commanding. 
Captain, Assistant Secretary for Civil AJrairs. 



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